SMOKE: A Crisis In Northern Thailand, A Documentary Filmhttp://smokethedocumentary.com
An environmental and public health crisis in Northern ThailandMon, 18 Apr 2016 06:27:02 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.16http://smokethedocumentary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/cropped-SMOKE_WEB_ICON-32x32.pngSMOKE: A Crisis In Northern Thailand, A Documentary Filmhttp://smokethedocumentary.com
3232SMOKE on Thai PBShttp://smokethedocumentary.com/2016/04/18/smoke-on-thai-pbs/
Mon, 18 Apr 2016 06:21:01 +0000http://smokethedocumentary.com/?p=228Thai PBS aired SMOKE: A Crisis in Northern Thailand in 2 segments on April 8th and 9th, 2016 as part of their Citizen Reporter series.
]]>Check Chiang Mai’s PM 2.5 Air Pollution Levels Herehttp://smokethedocumentary.com/2016/03/18/check-chiang-mais-pm-2-5-air-pollution-levels-here/
Fri, 18 Mar 2016 04:20:55 +0000http://smokethedocumentary.com/?p=215CityNews – The Pollution Control Department of Thailand has a website where you can check PM 2.5 levels around Chiang Mai, but it is difficult to get the results you are looking for. Here is a step by step guide on how to find the numbers.

]]>Momentum Growing to Solve Pollution Problem, CityNews – March 17, 2016http://smokethedocumentary.com/2016/03/17/momentum-growing-to-solve-pollution-problem-citynews-march-17-2016/
Thu, 17 Mar 2016 15:18:55 +0000http://smokethedocumentary.com/?p=211CityNews – 17th March 2016 US Consul General Michael Heath hosted a group of about two dozen interested parties to a panel discussion after watching an updated version of Marisa Marchitelli’s film Smoke: A Crisis in Northern Thailand.

“We can all see that the pollution is better this year than last,” said Heath in an opening speech, “but whether, or how much, that can be attributed to the government’s efforts we are unsure.” The US Consulate General says that the United States government has recently donated 70,000 USD to Warm Heart Foundation, a non-profit organisation which is currently pioneering the research as well as implementation of bio char as a solution to the pollution problems. Read about it here.

The US Consulate is also publishing daily reports of the PM2.5 levels on its Facebook page to keep the public informed, though says that credit for this should be given to local authorities who post original data on their site.

“Things are happening,” said Marchitelli who was interviewed in Citylife in February. “People are connecting to each other, ideas are being shared and spread about and important people are taking this seriously.” Since the release of the film less than two months ago, she said, it has been shown in many local Thai schools, and has inspired Chiang Mai resident Clyde Fowle, who has recently retired from McMillan Publishing, to create a Thai language lesson plan to teach children about pollution. She went on to say that she moderated a discussion recently with a group from the Young President Organisation, an organisation of peers who reached great wealth or success at a young age, about the pollution problems. As a result, the group has pledged to fund an awareness campaign. Not only that, a journalist from Singapore’s Straights Time is currently working on an in-depth article about this issue, focusing on Chiang Mai.

]]>Editorial by Pim Kemasingki, Citylife Magazine February 2016http://smokethedocumentary.com/2016/02/02/editorial-by-pim-kemasingki-citylife-magazine-february-2016/
Tue, 02 Feb 2016 08:01:38 +0000http://smokethedocumentary.com/?p=207It rained last night and the temperature has dropped to wintery levels. As I was checking Facebook this morning before coming to work, I saw that a young intern who had been with us a few years ago had just posted, “So happy it rained, no pollution this year!”

There are a lot of misconceptions about the ever-alarming annual pollution likely to be heading our way in the coming weeks.

You watch the news and see talking heads waxing ignorance about how the pollution is coming over from Myanmar, blaming Shan State for most of our smog. You read blogs where people recall similar brown skies in days of yore, insisting that nothing much has changed, that it’s all quite normal. You follow angry expats on forums, outraged about how Thais don’t care about the pollution and that nothing is being done by authorities to combat the noxious haze. You talk to your friends who say that the miasma we take in with every breath doesn’t really harm them, what’s a watery eye or blocked nose now and then? You find yourself in conversations with people who are so angry at farmers in the highlands they think they should all be rounded up and jailed. You hear conversations where people discuss safety levels, and how we aren’t that far over it…surely. You sneer at conglomerates culpable for much of the burning while buying their products at Makro. You see girls on bikes wearing thin Hello Kitty masks, seemingly more as a fashion statement than any real shield against pesky particulates.

]]>SMOKE used as an English language learning toolhttp://smokethedocumentary.com/2016/02/02/smoke-used-as-an-english-language-learning-tool/
Tue, 02 Feb 2016 05:10:58 +0000http://smokethedocumentary.com/?p=181Clyde Fowle, a locally based teacher and teacher trainer (and ex-educational publisher) has created materials for English teachers to use with their students in class to help Thai students understand, and explore further, the issues raised in the documentary. The materials are suitable for students with a good intermediate (B1+) level of English. He’s looking at ways of sharing these materials with as many teachers in Northern Thailand as possible. For a copy of the worksheet and teacher’s notes visit RESOURCES, or if you would like to arrange a teacher’s workshop and screening of the film, e-mail him at clydefowle@hotmail.com.
]]>Pop Areeya (ป็อป อารียา) talks about Northern Thailand’s Air Pollution Crisis on the Radiohttp://smokethedocumentary.com/2016/02/01/pop-areeya-%e0%b8%9b%e0%b9%87%e0%b8%ad%e0%b8%9b-%e0%b8%ad%e0%b8%b2%e0%b8%a3%e0%b8%b5%e0%b8%a2%e0%b8%b2-talks-about-northern-thailands-air-pollution-crisis-on-the-radio/
Mon, 01 Feb 2016 16:33:33 +0000http://smokethedocumentary.com/?p=17496.5FM
February 1, 2016
]]>One Woman Warrior: Marisa Marchitelli’s Obsession to Wake Us All Up to the Gravity of Air Pollution, Citylife Magazine February 2016http://smokethedocumentary.com/2016/02/01/one-woman-warrior-marisa-marchitellis-obsession-to-wake-us-all-up-to-the-gravity-of-air-pollution/
Mon, 01 Feb 2016 15:18:09 +0000http://smokethedocumentary.com/?p=164“Many of you may have liked the Fire Reports Chiang Mai Facebook page which was set up last year by Marisa Marchitelli. Some of you may even have seen her recent video on Vimeo, ‘Smoke: A Crisis in Northern Thailand’. What you may not know is that since April of 2015 Italian/US/Thai Marisa, 36, has been investigating and filming, all at her own expense, the ever-increasing crisis we all face with the annual air pollution, in the process bringing invested parties together to the table and raising a significant amount of awareness on this subject.”

“My son started to look strange. He looked sick to me. Within 24 hours we left Chiang Mai.”

Alice moved to Chiang Mai at the end of 2007 with her husband and two young children. After a successful legal career in corporate and finance law in Prague, London and Amsterdam, Alice has focused on raising her children and pursued independent projects, including running a small business producing handmade designed toys, in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Alice has a Master’s degree in law from the Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic and an LLM from University of California, Berkeley.

Alice’s children have attended Prem International School in Mae Rim since August 2008.

“My kids have hives, breathing problems, canker sores in their mouth that were all constant during the burning season. We had to leave.”

Em was born and raised in Chiang Mai. After an education at Princeton University, she worked as an economist at Bank of Thailand and World Bank. She has spent most of her life in the US and UK, but returned to live in Thailand from 2011-2015 when her two children attended Prem International School. Currently, she and her family are living in Princeton, NJ.

Dr. Chris Carpenter is a conservation scientist who has conducted field studies and led natural history expeditions in Asia for over twenty years. His main academic focus is the ecology (and increasingly, the geodynamics) of mountain environments. He is also interested in the marine world, environmental control of species richness, and strategies for habitat conservation. He lives in Chiangmai, Thailand, and when not leading Wildlands Studies projects, teaches part of the year at Payap University. Chris started teaching for Wildlands Studies in 1990. His teaching experience with Wildlands Studies includes China, India, Nepal, and Southeast Asia and he currently teaches the Himalayan Ecosystems Project; Coastal and Marine Ecology: Thailand Project; and Habitat Conservation: Nepal Project.